1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to telecommunications systems. More particularly, this invention relates to controlling and budgeting the cost of outgoing telephone calls over a public telephone network.
2. State of the Art
The telephone bill can be a significant expenditure each billing period. Calls, particularly in a household which includes teenagers and young adults, are often lengthy, long distance, and expensive. However, it is difficult to enforce restrictions on an individual""s use of the telephone, as it may not be known to the heads of the household that a child is on the telephone, for how long, with whom, and/or the immediate expense of such telephone calls.
In addition, in dorm rooms or shared apartments and houses it is difficult to track which individuals made which calls and determine who is responsible for any portion of the telephone bill.
Moreover, in a business setting it is desirable to log who has made particular telephone calls, for purposes of client billing or employee accountability. Furthermore, it may be desirable to safeguard the telephone system from unauthorized use.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system for controlling and logging outgoing telephone calls.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a system for controlling and logging telephone calls which can be used with both landline and wireless telephones.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system which can be modified by an authorized subscriber (primary user) of the system whenever desired.
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, a system for controlling and logging telephone calls is provided. The system includes a server having a database containing lists of user identifiers and optionally call control limitations assigned to the user identifiers. Call control limitations may include budgetary, length of call, time/day of call, geographic (e.g., area code or city and/or country codes) and/or other limitations to call connection. A telephone line of a telephone network (e.g., the PSTN) is subscribed to the system, and each user of a telephone coupled to a subscribed line is assigned (or created) a user identifier (e.g., a numeric dialing code identifier, a code word, or voice print) which may have one or more of the call control limitations associated therewith. A primary user of the subscribed line can interact with the server, e.g., over the Internet, to set user identifiers and associated call control limitations.
In order to make an outgoing call, a user places the telephone off-hook and dials a destination telephone number which causes the telephone network to query the database and determine whether the telephone line is subscribed. If the telephone line is subscribed, the PSTN communicates with the server which, in turn, requests the user to enter the user""s identifier, e.g., DTMF, voice print, or codes. It is then determined from the database which, if any, call control limitations, are placed upon the user and whether and for how long the call may be connected. A log of connected calls is maintained and accessible from the Internet.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become,apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.